A revitalized role of educational planning is called for in order to make education systems effective instruments for social change. This trend is persuasively articulated in the movement for educational reform currently engaging governments in several Asian countries. This booklet is an attempt to give an observer's personal assessment of the function and role of educational planning in the developing Asian countries within the last 3 decades. Educational planning is seen in the way it is carried out in the actual conditions and in the way it is embodied in plans intended for implementation. Specific countries are not dealt with on an individual basis, as the emphasis is on identifying the general trends and problems. The names of specific countries are used, however, to illustrate various points in the general framework of educational planning. A Brief history of education and educational objectives is followed by a review of the first planning mechanisms introduced in Asia. The contribution of educational planning and the problems associated with it are evaluated. The final section gives an analysis of the roles of reforms in the future of Asia's educational planning. (118 references) (LAP)